What do you call someone from Hamburg?

A Hamburger, of course. Over the past two weeks, Chuck and I spent time in Denmark, Germany and Norway. Part of the trip was spent working and the rest of it was pleasure...visiting friends, catching up, shopping, and visiting a new country!

While in Germany, we visited some fellow expat friends that were originally in Arhus, Denmark, but recently moved to Hamburg, Germany. We had a great afternoon/evening and then Chuck was off to work, so I got to hang out with the Happy family.

We went downtown to the city center and visited the Rathus (city hall)...


We had spaghetti ice cream...


We toured an amazing little German city. I'm not sure if I should even post the name of the city as it seems Americans haven't found it yet, so it is still a fan.tas.tic and quaint village. Even little A was in a good mood for our adventure as we strolled down cobblestone streets, walked along the river, visited several shops, and took many, many, many photos. Here's a picture or two...but no name :-)



I shared my special peanut butter cookie recipe with the girls and taught them how to modify the recipe depending upon humidity and altitude. S is going to be a wonderful cook in the future. I might have to borrow her to help out with my dinner parties.

The visit to Hamburg to see my friends the Happy Hamburgers was great. I cannot wait to head back to Europe and visit again. Well, unless hubs decides we should do another stint abroad.

If someone from Hamburg is a Hamburger, what is someone from Dusseldorf? A Dusseldorfian, Dusseldorfite, Dusseldorfer, Dusseldorfan....hmmm.

Up next, a quick visit to Berlin, Germany and then a long weekend in Bergen, Norway.

The 2nd Annual Girls Long Weekend - California pictures

Last year, my mom, sister and I started to take a long weekend vacation without the boys (hubbies and Lincoln). Last year's trip (northern Wisconsin) was a little closer to home because nephew Lincoln wasn't even a year old; however this year we hopped on a plane to spend some time in California.

A few pictures from our trip (in July).....

Where has the time gone?

It is amazing how the doldrums of life get in the way of the adventures of travel. Living in Europe afforded us the opportunity to hop in the car and explore a new city on any given weekend. After moving back to the Midwest, most, if not all traveling involves an airplane...and the lovely Ryanair is nowhere to be found! Needless to say, our travels have slowed a bit, but I'm sure they will pick up again!

We've been on the road, in the air, on the rails, and on the water for the past two weeks, so I have some catching up to do.

My first trip north....to Canada!

Last week, I made the quick 1 hour flight to Toronto to visit the Happy family during their stay with relatives for a few weeks. Well, "quick" really isn't appropriate as my 6pm departure turned out to be a 10pm departures; however I'm not complaining as I'd rather arrive alive, than not arrive at all. The airplane had a leaky fuel line, which resulted in a puddle of fuel below the wing. Even though it was in for repair 2 days earlier, it obviously wasn't fixed. Quite honestly, I never complain about a delay when it has to do with the mechanics.

I spent the first day in Toronto solo, exploring the area until the Happy family arrived. I walked around Chinatown, King and Queen Streets, the Harbour area and of course, did the full blown CN Tower tour, complete with interactive ride, movie, observation deck, and the ride in the sky pod.

On Tuesday, I joined the Happy family and headed out to Niagara falls, with a quick stop at a Tim Hortons for breakfast :-).

Traffic in and around Toronto is NUTS! It's a typical big city, but it appears to have boomed with out having the necessary infrastructure in place....or they need to raise the price of gasoline to limit the number of autos on the road.

Tara and I stopped at Webers, a roadside drive in, for burgers and fries. Yummy! I even picked up a few buckets of burgers for my hosts in Bracebridge. My allergies were in full swing, so I wasn't 100%, but still had a great time seeing some fellow expats from Denmark!

Tips for Canada:

1. Check your credit card and see what the conversion/exchange rate fees are before you leave. It is usually cheaper to use your ATM card than use a credit card.
2. Don't believe the website when they say taxis are metered from the airport. A 15 minute ride will set you back the 'set rate' of 54 Canadian dollars!
3. Check discount websites / coupon codes for discounts to Casa Loma and the CN Tower. You can save 20% or more just by doing a quick google search.
4. Traffic in and around Toronto is crazy. Be prepared to sit in traffic during commuting hours. Bring along your GPS/Garmin to navigate the roads; especially around the airport...it's like a bowl of spaghetti! The 407 is a toll road, so try to avoid it unless you want to pay a hefty convenience fee to the car rental company...in addition to the tolls.
5. Niagara Falls isn't as big as I thought it would be. View it from the Canada side. It's gorgeous and you can get some amazing photos if you go all the way to the end by the visitor/welcome center.

From CA to CA in a week

I just finished a wonderful tour of the San Francisco Bay area in California (CA) and am getting ready to head out to my northerly neighbor in Toronto, Canada (the other CA).

My upcoming trip to Canada is to see Tara while she is in North America before she heads back to Europe. And, well, I'll be seeing her in Europe in early September, so I get an added bonus of seeing her twice in the span of about a month!

I have never been to Canada, so I'm looking forward to a few days in Toronto taking in the sights, then Niagara Falls and finally to a small town north of Toronto.

This is going to be great fun !

5-day long weekend in San Francisco Bay area

I am accustomed to packing in a lot of activities on holidays, so my trip to California shouldn't have been all that surprising, right? Phew, I'm exhausted.

A few months ago, my mom, sister and I decided to book the 2nd annual (third, if you count Orlando, Florida a few years ago) Mother-Daughters long weekend. We kicked around a few different locations and decided upon the San Francisco Bay area.

In four full days, we...

Day 1
Arrived late evening
Upgraded to a suite...Diamond status has its advantages!

Day 2
Stood in line for the cable cars
Mr. Toad's Tour - 3 hour tour of San Francisco in a 1912 Rambler
Fisherman's Wharf walking, shopping, lunch at Bubba Gumps
Shopped at Cannery Row
Sampled Chocolate at Ghiradelli Square

Day 3
Walked, shopped, toured Chinatown
Walked down Lombard Street and the 'crookedest street,' then walked to the Wharf!
Shopped in Union Square
Ate at Colibri Mexican Restaurant in Union Square
Bought some salt water taffy, candy, and mints (right Kasey??)

Day 4
Towncar ride to SFO to pick up the rental car
Walked the Golden Gate Bridge
Walked through Muir Woods
Wine tour (and tasting) in Napa
Lunched picnic style at Gott's Roadside (formerly Taylor's Refresher)
Olive Oil tasting
Shopping in downtown Napa and at Oxbow Market

Day 5
A long drive south to Monterey Bay
L.o.v.e.d. the 3 person carpool lane
Toured Monterey Aquarium
Shopped Cannery Row, outlet malls, stores in Monterey Bay
Drove 17 mile scenic drive through Pebble Beach
Shopped in Carmel by the Bay
Visited Carmel Mission
Ate at Hog's Breath, Clint Eastwood's restaurant
Drove Highway 1
Flew out on the 11:45pm redeye

I wonder where we'll go in 2011? Bar Harbor, ME; Dallas, TX; Outer Banks, NC; Washington D.C; New Orleans, LA; Boston, MA???

22 month European Adventure recap

Our 22 month European Adventure ended a few months ago.

In 22 months, we...

• Went to 18 countries (Ireland, Scotland, England, Sweden, Denmark, Germany, Poland, Czech Republic, Hungary, Slovania, Greece, Italy, Spain, France, Belgium, Netherlands, Austria, Switzerland)....and a side trip to Beijing, China and Cancun, Mexico
• Slept on a mountain (Mt. Pilatus, Switzerland)
• Stayed in a Tuscan villa
• Rang in the new year in Athens, Greece and Dublin, Ireland
• Rode a summer toboggan down a mountain ...and down the Great Wall of China.
• Went to a cooking class (Mount Oliveto, Italy)
• Climbed more steps than I care to mention.
• Drove over 40,000 kilometers
• Drove through a 17km tunnel (Switzerland)

Back into the Swing of Things

And, we're off.....and running....and planning trips.

I finally finished our last travel photobook from June 2009 - January 2010. It's amazing how much free time I had in Denmark to plan trips, update the blog, finish photobooks, etc. And, the super-fast internet connection helped too. I'm doing a full out search for a new internet provider. I gave Comcast 6 months and it's been nothing but headaches. Maybe next month I'll be happy as a clam....as happy as a clam can be...

The last 6 months of 2010 are going to be wonderful. The following trips are planned and I cannot wait to get back to blogging about travel. Maybe I'll have to convince hubs that we need another work abroad gig so I can get my travel fix or perhaps I need to find a job where I get paid to do what I love.

Upcoming travel to the following cities:
San Francisco, California
Napa, California
Monterey and Carmel, California
Toronto, Canada - Here I come Tara!!!
Niagara Falls, Canada
Copenhagen, Denmark
Odense, Denmark
Southern Jutland, Denmark
Hamburg, Germany
Flensburg, Germany
Bergen, Norway
Nassau, Bahamas

*We will also be doing a Midwest tour when dear friends from Germany join us for two weeks. First on the list is a preseason Bulls game, so cross your fingers that I can find some tickets!!! We'll also be visiting Galena, Chicago, and some of the Chicago 'burbs in Illinois; Lake Geneva, Milwaukee, Madison, Fox Cities, Door County and Green Bay in Wisconsin, and perhaps a trip to Minneapolis, Minnesota, too.

Flashback

I'm finally working on the snapfish photo book. As I'm searching for pictures, I run across this one....

It was taken in Manarola, Cinque Terre at sunset. Chuck left his mark with a little graffiti.

I'm back...(kind of)

My traveling schedule was curtailed just a bit with the return and "repatriation" to the great USA. And, my internet connection is extremely unreliable. It seems to work between 10pm and 4am...but comcast claims there are no issues. Hmph.

However, I'm now back into the groove. Upcoming trips....

• Door County, Wisconsin
• New Orleans, Louisiana
• San Francisco and Napa, California
• Boston, Massachusetts
  
• Nassau, Bahamas